Daughters of Sin
by Fae2135
Summary: Formerly titled 'Sisters of the Light.' Elphaba doesn't become friends with Galinda Upland at Shiz, and the future of Oz is changed for good. For the better? Only time will tell. Collaboration with TheWickedWitchOfOz.
1. Chapter 1

In all the general hustle and bustle of the first day of the new term, few people noticed a carriage pulling up from the direction of the local train station. The driver reined in the horses, and the vehicle came to a stop near a path that led up to a large building that, from its squat design and numerous identical windows, could only be a dormitory. He hopped down from his perch atop the carriage and opened the door so his passengers could disembark.

"Here we are, ladies and gentlemen - Shiz University," he announced before heading around to the back of the carriage to begin unloading the luggage that had been strapped there at the railway station.

The first passenger to alight from the carriage was a middle-aged man, nicely dressed. He reached back inside for a moment to pull a chair with large wheels fixed to either side from the interior of the vehicle, then carefully lifted down a girl with brown hair and delicate features and set her gently into it. He made a great show of fussing over her, giving every impression of a doting father.

While the man was getting the girl in the wheelchair settled, two other girls descended to stand near the carriage, looking around in thinly-disguised awe at their new surroundings. Dressed in matching university uniforms, they were of the same height and build, and they shared their long, straight black hair and blue eyes. However, one thing, more than anything else, singled them out as identical twins: they both had skin the color of emeralds.

The older twin, by a whole three and a half minutes, picked up her suitcase and suggested with a silent motion that her sister do the same. "We could have a quick look around while Father is busy," she offered very quietly.

"Good thinking," the other murmured in response, obeying her sister's wordless directive and picking up her own suitcase. "We ought to learn where everything is before classes start."

All of the buildings had numbers on the door, which was not very informative at all. "Hmm. One supposes that they will give us a timetable or a map, then." The elder of the two shrugged and looked around. "Isn't it beautiful here? Look at the ivy on that wall! Oh, and look, a whole group of people. Perhaps we should go back to the carriage?"

The younger twin gazed around her at the sights her sister had pointed out, and nodded in answer to her last question. "We'd better, at that. Father and Nessa are probably ready to go inside now. They'll be wondering where we've gotten to." She shifted her suitcase to her other hand so she could link her elbow through her sister's, and the two of them set off back towards where they had left the carriage… only to stop and look back when they heard, or perhaps just felt, the attention of the group of students focus on them.

"What?" inquired the older twin, covering her sudden nervousness with casual sarcasm.

"What are you all looking at?" demanded the younger.

"Do we have something in our teeth?" added the older in a tone of mock concern at the idea – this was quite fun!

Picking up on her sister's game, the younger wondered worriedly, "Are our underskirts showing?"

"Let's just get this over with!" They spoke simultaneously as they realized that no one was going to answer their questions or say anything else.

The younger twin took a step or two towards the group of students watching them, who instinctively backed away an equal amount. "No, we're not seasick," she informed them curtly, anticipating the first of many questions she and her sister always got when people saw them for the first time.

"Yes, we've always been green," added the older, following her sister's lead and smirking just a little when the students stepped back.

"No, we didn't eat grass as children," the younger contributed, annoyed that it was necessary to make such a statement at all.

The older was about to shoot down yet another question before it could be asked, but at that moment the man who had been in the carriage with them hurried up wearing an expression of great embarrassment, pushing the girl in the wheelchair ahead of him.

"Elphaba!" he exclaimed, having overheard the last comment made by the younger sister.

"Oh, and this is our younger sister, Nessarose," said Liana, the older twin, in the tone of someone making a polite social introduction.

Elphaba, the younger, couldn't resist adding snidely, "As you can see, she's a perfectly _normal_ color."

"Elphaba! Liana!" snapped their father, Frex, in a tone that made both girls hurry over to join the rest of the family. "Stop making a spectacle of yourselves! Remember, I'm only sending _you_ to this school for one reason."

Elphaba sighed heavily and cast a chastened glance at her twin. "We know, we know... to look after Nessa."

"And because Grandmother made him," muttered Liana, after making certain he wouldn't hear her. Elphaba gave a quiet snort of agreement.

Frex smiled at his youngest daughter and leaned down to talk to her. "My precious little girl," he said, lovingly handing Nessa a box. "A parting gift."

"Now, Father…" Nessa started to rebuke him, even as she began to open the box. Her voice trailed off as she saw what was in it. "Jewelled shoes!" she exclaimed in delight as she lifted one of them out of the box.

"As befits the future governor of Munchkinland," replied Frex. Then he looked at his older daughters. "Elphaba, Liana…"

For a very brief moment, Liana thought he might have something for them as well, though of course they would never expect anything as extravagant as he gave Nessa. She glanced at her sister and saw the hope of some token of their father's affection, no matter how small, reflected in her twin's eyes.

But Frex's only parting gift to the twins was to remind them, "Take care of your sister, and do try not to talk so much." And with that, he bent down to kiss Nessa goodbye and then walked off without so much as a backward glance.

"Oh... Elphaba..." Nessarose started to say something sympathetic to her sisters.

But Elphaba cut her off. "Well, what could he have gotten us?" she asked rhetorically, dismissing the awkward moment with false nonchalance.

"We clash with everything," finished Liana in a faintly mocking tone, though it wasn't clear if she was making fun of herself or girls who actually cared about such things as clashing colors.

Any reply Nessa might have made was forgotten as an older, matronly woman with an air of great self-importance about her bustled her way to the front of the group. "Welcome, new students!" she boomed jovially. "I am Madame Morrible, headmistress here at Shiz University." She paused a moment for polite applause, and then continued with proprietorial pride, "And whether you are here to study law, logic, or linguification, I know I speak for my fellow faculty members when I say, we have nothing but the _highest_ hopes... for some of you." Another pause as she consulted a sheaf of paper clutched in her hand. "Now, regarding room assignments..."

Upon hearing Madame Morrible mention room assignments, Liana and Elphaba both raised their hands quickly. However, the headmistress's attention was captured by a small blonde girl in the front who was waving her arm wildly back and forth. Madame Morrible acknowledged the girl with a look over the top of the glasses she wore and asked in a tone so polite it was almost stiff, "Yes, is this regarding room assignments?"

The blonde immediately shook her head. "Oh, no, Madame, thank you for asking," she said, flashing the headmistress a bright smile, "but I've already been assigned a private suite." At this, a large number of the students surrounding her began to protest quite loudly. But the girl held up both hands, and once the groaning and grumbling ceased, she added consolingly, "But you can all come visit me whenever you want!"

"How good of you!" squealed one of the girls closest to her.

"You are so good!" declared another ecstatically.

"No I'm not." The blonde shook her head and lowered her eyes modestly, but it was clear to Elphaba and Liana that it was only for show.

"Yes you are!" both of the girls fawning over the blonde insisted.

The blonde girl giggled and tossed her hair over her shoulder with practiced ease. "Now stop!"

"Do you have a question?" Madame Morrible intoned pointedly, cutting the nauseating admiration session short.

The blonde girl immediately turned back to the headmistress, who was waiting rather impatiently to learn what the girl's purpose had been in raising her hand. "Oh. Yes. You see, I am Galinda Upland… of the _Upper_ Uplands...?" When Madame Morrible showed no signs of being impressed by the name, Galinda pulled her off to the side. This was apparently supposed to give the appearance of a private conversation, but since the entire group could still hear what was being said, it was rather pointless. "I've applied to your sorcery seminar. Perhaps you recall my entrance essay… 'Magic Wands: Need They Have A Point?'"

"Yes," agreed Madame Morrible noncommittally. "However, I do not teach my seminar every semester, unless, of course, somebody _special_ were to come along…"

The blonde let out a bubbly laugh. "Well, exactly!"

At this point, Elphaba and Liana decided they would be there all day if they didn't do something to curtail the loquacious Miss Galinda. They exchanged a wordless look, and then Elphaba stepped forward and raised her voice. "Excuse me, Madame Morrible – we have not yet received our room assignments."

Madame Morrible immediately turned in search of who had spoken. "Yes, yes, of course!" she said, looking eager for the excuse to get away from the blonde girl. She pinpointed the general direction from which Elphaba had spoken, and caught sight of Nessa in her wheelchair. "Oh, you must be Miss Nessarose, the governor's daughter!" she exclaimed, hurrying over to kneel in front of the girl. "What a tragically beautiful face you have!" Then, as she stood, she caught sight of the two green-skinned girls standing behind the wheelchair. An expression of shock came over her face briefly, but she quickly masked it. "And you must be…"

"We're the twins," said Liana, in a polite explanatory tone. "Liana and Elphaba."

Elphaba nodded in agreement. Then, seeing that Madame Morrible had no idea what they were talking about, she offered helpfully, "We're beautifully tragic."

Madame Morrible had by now recovered her composure, and smiled thinly. "Yes, well, I'm sure you're very... bright."

"Thank you, Madame," said Liana, refraining from pulling a face. "It's very kind of you to say so."

Blonde Galinda and her friends had been staring at them for several clock-ticks now with their jaws hanging open. Finally Galinda turned to the girl beside her. "Bright?" she quipped. "They're phosphorescent!" The entire crowd, with the exceptions of Liana, Elphaba, Nessarose, and Madame Morrible, burst into appreciative laughter.

"As Elphaba said, Madame, we..." Liana indicated herself and her two sisters, her tone making it clear that she expected all three of them to be sharing a room. "We have not received _our_ room assignment."

Madame Morrible eyed the twins skeptically. "The governor never mentioned the two of you," she informed them. Then she seemed to make an inward decision, for her tone and her manner became brisk but cheerful. "Oh, well. A slight gulch, but not to fret - we'll find _some_place to put you."

Just then, a young woman with the slightly harried look of a personal secretary appeared at Madame Morrible's elbow. She coughed politely and said, "I beg your pardon, Madame, but the Green Suite on the fifth floor is going to be vacant this term. I have a letter from the family of Miss Narelle DiMora informing you that she is unable to attend Shiz University after all."

The twins noticed a look of dismay come over Galinda's face. But before they could do any more than wonder what had caused it, Madame Morrible was speaking again.

"Oh, how disappointing," lamented the headmistress. But she brightened again almost at once, and turned back to Elphaba and Liana. "But every cloud has a silver lining, as they say. Miss Liana and Miss Elphaba, the two of you can share the Green Suite. Although, being a private suite, it is only equipped for one…" She caught sight of a passing servant and directed, "Have an extra bed brought up to the Green Suite on the fifth floor."

"Er… you mean _two_ extra beds, don't you, Madame?" Elphaba corrected her tentatively. "You forgot about our sister Nessarose."

Madame Morrible raised an eyebrow. "Did your father not tell you that he had made special arrangements?" When both twins shook their heads apprehensively, she explained, "The Governor made his concern for your sister's well being quite apparent. She will share my private compartment, where I can assist her as needed."

"But Madame, we've always looked after our sister…" protested Elphaba, trying not to panic. She cast a frantic look at her twin.

But the headmistress apparently did not care what they had always done. "Everyone, to your dormitories!" she directed to the group at large, and the students began to disperse.

"We have to do something," said Liana, equally frantically. Elphaba nodded.

"Oh don't worry about me!" insisted Nessa, who looked thrilled by the fact that she had been singled out for such special attention by the Headmistress.

"But Nessa, we promised Father..."

Madame Morrible brushed the sisters aside as though they were no bigger or more important than a couple of gnats and, having taken hold of the handles of Nessa's chair, began to wheel the handicapped girl away.

Liana felt a familiar, yet indescribable, feeling rising inside of her and winced imperceptibly at her lack of control. _Of all the times…!_ she thought. A quick glance at her sister showed that Elphaba was having the same problem. There was nothing for it. She grabbed her sister's hand, hoping she would see what she was trying to do.

Elphaba took the cue from her twin at once, gripping Liana's hand tightly and allowing the pressure inside her to build. Squeezing their eyes shut tight, both twins exclaimed loudly to Madame Morrible, "Let her go!"

The feeling dispelled with the emotional outburst, as Liana had expected it to. What she did not expect was hearing Nessa's shriek of fear and, upon opening her eyes, seeing the wheeled chair flying backwards towards them as if it had a life of its own. Feeling her twin tense beside her, Elphaba opened her eyes as well, and gasped at what she saw. She looked at Liana with wide eyes for a clock-tick, and then the two slowly let go of each other's hands.

By this time, Madame Morrible and everyone else around them was staring at the twins in awe and fear. "How did you do that?" inquired the headmistress eagerly, stepping towards the two green girls.

"How did they do that?" echoed Galinda to no one in particular, her tone much more suspicious.

"What did you _do_?" demanded Nessa as her chair shuddered to a halt in front of her sisters. "You _promised_ things would be different here!" Both twins flinched as Nessa reminded them of their promise not to embarrass her at Shiz.

"You mean this has happened before?" Madame Morrible asked, sounding more interested every moment.

"Well, yes..." began Elphaba hesitantly.

"No..." said Liana, a heartbeat later. "I mean, it _has_, but...that's not what Nessa meant."

Elphaba knelt down next to her sister's wheelchair and took her hand. "Nessa, we're sorry..."

"We're so sorry!" agreed Liana, kneeling on the other side. "Please forgive us?"

Whatever response Nessa might have had to the apologies and request for forgiveness was waved away by Madmae Morrible. "_What?_" she cried. "_Never_ apologize for talent! Talent is a gift!" She paused grandly. "And that is my special talent... encouraging talent." Coming over and placing a hand on each of the twins' shoulders, she asked, "Have you ever considered a career in sorcery?"

The twins stood up, and after a warning glance from Elphaba, Liana resisted the urge to push away Madame Morrible's hand, despite the fact that she felt the older woman was being far too overfamiliar for someone they had just met.

"Well no, not really..." Liana wasn't sure how to explain the fact they never expected to be offered a choice in such matters, or if she even wanted to share such a personal situation.

Sensing her sister's unease, Elphaba added by way of clarification, "We've never really considered a career in _anything._"

Madame Morrible seemed surprised by this. "Well, then, I shall tutor you privately," she declared, "and take no other students!"

This elicited a horrified gasp from Galinda. "_What?_"

Elphaba and Liana exchanged a glance, remembering how eager the blonde had been to get into the sorcery class the headmistress was proposing, and also how Madame Morrible had said that she didn't teach the seminar every semester unless someone special came along. She hadn't seemed too inclined to add the class to her schedule for Galinda, which had surprised them. But they were even more shocked now that she _was_ offering it to _them_.

The blonde also appeared shocked, but not at all in a good way. Hers looked to be more of a furious sort of shock than the amazed sort that the twins were feeling. She shot them an acid-laced glare. If looks could kill, the green girls would have been six feet under at that very moment. Liana suppressed a sigh. Despite their apparent luck in being accepted into the sorcery class, making an enemy of a girl who had become popular in less than ten minutes did not bode well for the rest of the term. Still, it was impossible not to be overwhelmed by the idea that this part of themselves they had tried so hard to hide from everyone was actually a _talent_, and a useful one at that.

Madame Morrible gave them a broad smile when she saw their astonishment. "Miss Liana, Miss Elphaba, I haven't seen a gift like yours since... well, in many, many years! I do believe that even the Wizard himself would be interested in meeting you!"

"_The_ Wizard?" Elphaba asked in amazement. "As in, the ruler of all of Oz?"

"_The_ Wizard, my dear," confirmed the headmistress with a chuckle. "I'll write to him this very day. He should hear about you at once! I'm sure he'll be positively _thrillified_ to meet you." She lowered her voice in the manner of someone imparting secret knowledge. "And who knows? If you make good, there's no telling how far you might go! You're destined for great things, the both of you. I can feel it."

Elphaba and Liana stood there trying to wrap their minds around the picture Madame Morrible had just painted. Was it really possible that the future she had described could come true? That the Wizard of Oz himself might be interested in them? It seemed too good to be true...

As the twins did their best to comprehend the idea of someone actually _appreciating_ their strange powers rather than finding them repulsive, Madame Morrible gestured for a servant to come over, and ordered her to take Nessarose to the headmistress's chambers and help her get settled. Neither Liana nor Elphaba had the strength or the will to protest a second time, and the servant wheeled a delighted Nessa away, another following behind with the girl's luggage. The headmistress then began to direct the rest of the students off to their respective rooms.

As the crowd slowly thinned, Galinda approached the headmistress, a very determined look on her face. "Madame Morrible," she began in her politest, most winning tone.

But Madame Morrible merely shooed her with a vague, "Not now, dear," and turned away, busying herself with her papers.

The blonde stared at her for several clock-ticks. Then her face seemed to crumple, and she looked at the two girls with whom she had been conversing earlier, who came rushing to her side. "Something's wrong," she told them, sounding impossibly pathetic. "I didn't get my way! I need to go lie down..." The two girls murmured sympathetically, and both shot Liana and Elphaba poisonous looks of their own before leading their suffering comrade away.

"You two should be getting off to your room as well," Madame Morrible suggested to the twins when she glanced up and saw that they were still standing there, overcome by what she had told them. "I'm sure you've lots of unpacking and settling in to do before the orientation this afternoon." She produced a small envelope, which she handed to Elphaba. "Here are your room keys, ladies. The Green Suite is on the fifth floor of that building right over there. You have a pleasant day, and rest assured that I will take the _best_ possible care of your sister. Don't hesitate to come and find me if you need anything, anything at all."

Elphaba finally managed to nod. "Yes, Madame, we'll do that. Thank you." And with that she picked up her suitcase in one hand, took Liana's with the other, and led her sister away towards the dormitory Madame Morrible had indicated.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Neither Fae2135 nor TheWickedWitchOfOz owns Wicked.**

Liana finally managed to start paying attention to what was going on about halfway to the dormitory building. "Do you know," she said quietly to her sister, "I think I may be struck speechless, but in the kind of way where you have so many things to say that you can't say them all at once, and you don't know which one to say first!"

"I know!" Elphaba agreed, nodding emphatically. "I mean... all our lives we've been trying to keep this... this _gift _of ours a secret, and now suddenly someone tells us it could help us meet the Wizard! I hardly know what to think!"

"It's just too wonderful! To think that someone thinks _we_ are goodenough…well, for _anything_," Liana said a little bit sarcastically before finishing her original sentence, "to meet _the_ Wizard of Oz himself!"

By this time, the two had let themselves into the building and made their way up several flights of stairs to the fifth floor. Each door was labelled with a shiny brass plaque proclaiming the title of the room behind it.

"Lavender Suite... Blue Suite... Mauve Suite... Crimson Suite... Rose Suite..." Elphaba muttered under her breath, reading off the names of the rooms they passed. "Ah, here we are - the Green Suite." She frowned slightly, turning to talk to Liana over her shoulder as she unlocked the door of what was to be their room. "Why do you suppose it's called the..." Her voice trailed off as the sunlight pouring in through a large window provided an immediate answer to the question she had been about to ask. "Brace yourself to be overwhelmed by irony," she warned her twin dryly, stepping into the suite.

"It's actually _green_, isn't it?" guessed Liana as soon as she heard the tone in her twin's voice. She shook her head and laughed quietly. "I never even thought... well, I thought it was just the door or something. Dare I ask - _how_ green is it?"

"Green as sin," Elphaba replied with a smirk, using a phrase that had been used to describe the twins themselves more than once over the years.

"Oh my," breathed Liana as she followed her sister into the suite. "I didn't expect it to be so…" She could think of quite a few different words to end that sentence with, and 'green' was just the first of them. "I didn't expect the furnishings at Shiz to be quite so lavish," she concluded, fairly certain her sister would feel the same and understand her point.

Elphaba, too, was gazing around at the unexpected grandeur. "This place must be at least three times the size of our room at home! And look at how... _matching _everything is."

"No wonder that poor secretary looked so nervous when she was suggesting this room for us – she probably thought we'd think she was being deliberately rude!" Liana looked around the room – dark green carpet, pale green sofa and armchair, yet another shade of green on the smaller cushions that sat on the sofa and chair. "And it all looks so new! They must be very strict about keeping the rooms tidy here," she added. Not that it was a problem for them to keep a room tidy; they'd always had to so that Nessa could get in to see them without tipping her chair over things on the floor.

"Yes, I'm sure they have all sorts of rules, and maids who come and clean every so often and whatnot." Elphaba wandered around the suite, eventually ending up perched in the window seat between the two beds. "Did you see the look on that girl Galinda's face when the secretary told Madame Morrible that the girl who was supposed to have this room wasn't coming?"

"Did you see her face when Madame Morrible said she was going to train us?" replied Liana, sitting next to her sister and admiring the view. "She looked like she'd swallowed a lemon, her face was so sour. But she smiled as soon as she thought her new friends were looking." She stared thoughtfully out the window for a few moments before coming to the decision to speak her opinion of the girl. "We of all people know that you shouldn't judge someone by your first impression of them… but I _really_ didn't like her."

"Neither did I, Li." Elphaba frowned slightly, allowing the memory of her instant dislike of the blonde to surface. "She's one of those people who just automatically assume that the universe revolves around them, and that everyone else knows it. Like the way she naturally expected Madame to admit her into the sorcery seminar." She paused to give a derisive snort. "That girl doesn't have a drop of magical ability in her body."

"I think you're right, Fabala," agreed Liana with an equally derisive snort. "She probably just woke up one day and decided that learning sorcery would fill the time until she found a rich, handsome nobleman to marry."

The younger twin laughed at that. "I bet she doesn't last the term here. Once she realizes that she's actually going to have to _work_ at university, she'll be on the next train back to those Upper Uplands of hers."

"The _Upper_ Uplands," corrected Liana, mimicking Galinda's Gillikinese accent flawlessly. "You can just hear the italics when she says it, can't you? Though Madame Morrible didn't look terribly impressed, now did she?"

Elphaba raised her eyebrows in mock distress. "Of course, do forgive the mispronunciation." Then she snickered and added, "No, she didn't, and she's probably the first person Miss Galinda has ever met who wasn't suitably intimidated by her title alone."

"But never mind Miss Pretty and Popular Upland," said Liana, dismissing Galinda as unimportant in comparison to her excitement about what Madame Morrible had promised. "_Her _name is never going to be known to the Wizard of Oz! Not like ours will if Madame Morrible really does intend to write to him, and she did seem very sincere about that**,** didn't she?"

"She did," agreed Elphaba enthusiastically. "Can you imagine, Li... you and me, working for the Wizard himself! Just think... no one will jeer at us, no one will run away in fear or disgust at the mere sight of us. After all, when the Wizard himself sings your praises, everyone _has_ to love you! It's practically the law!"

"I don't mind so much about _everyone_," said Liana with a similarly enthusiastic smile, "though that does sound simply grand. But what would be truly _wonderful_ would be for Frex and Nessa, and even Grandmother Thropp, to not be ashamed to admit that we're related to them."

Elphaba was struck by a sudden thought, and she grabbed her sister's hand. "And someday, if we prove to him that we're worthy of it... maybe... maybe he'll even..." Her voice lowered to nearly a whisper in her excitement as she finished, "_degreenify _us!"

Liana squeezed her sister's hand and simply stared at her, wide-eyed, as the full extent of what she was saying then she nodded – she didn't trust herself to speak just yet.

Elphaba, on the other hand, was too keyed up to _stop_ speaking. "I can just see it," she grinned. "One day he'll call us in for a little private chat. 'Liana, Elphaba,' he'll say, 'I've never met anyone as genuinely _good_ as the two of you. I think two such _wonderful_ girls as yourselves deserve to be as beautiful on the outside as you are on the inside. And I know appearances aren't supposed to matter, that it's what's in your heart that counts. But since everyone else is too blinded by your… _verdigris_… to realize that, would you mind if I just took care of it right here and now?' "

Liana closed her eyes for a moment and, when she opened them, it was as if she wasn't looking through the window but at some distant sight. "Our future is unlimited!" she exclaimed. Then she lowered her voice to speak of something that was even more of a secret than the general fact of the twins' magic power – a vision of the future. "I can see it, Fabala, a celebration throughout Oz that's all to do with us! There are people everywhere, they're all happy and cheering, and it's all because of something we've done!"

Elphaba's eyes widened in delight at the description of what her twin had seen. "Oh, Li, it'll be everything we've ever dreamed of! Everything will be just perfect, and all of Oz will adore us, and we'll be so happy that we could just melt!" She gave a happy sigh as she imagined the future Liana had caught a glimpse of. "I can't imagine ever wanting anything else."

"It'll be perfect! We'll live in the Emerald City, maybe even the Palace itself! The only reason anyone will ever stare at us will be because we're so famous for working with the Wizard! And do you know what else? _Everyone _will wish they were _us_!" concluded Liana triumphantly.

The two sisters sat staring out their window for several minutes without really seeing anything, too caught up in their fantasy to notice the world around them. Suddenly a clock began to chime somewhere very nearby, causing both girls to jump and startling them back to reality.

"A quarter to four," noted Elphaba.

Liana looked up. "Don't we have to be at the orientation at four o'clock?"

Her twin's eyes widened. "Oh, Oz, you're right! Come on, we've got to go get Nessa."

"We're going to be late, then," said Liana, sighing, as if it were a foregone conclusion. "You know Nessa isn't going to let us out of her room without a lecture."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Might as well get it over with." She stood and motioned to Liana to follow her, and they set off to find their younger sister.

After they'd had to stop and ask a member of the household staff for directions, Liana finally knocked on the door to Nessa's room. It was opened by a maid, who had been unpacking, and the twins were met with the sight of their sister with a familiar expression of mingled anger and disappointment on her face.

"Thank you for you assistance, Shirla; you may go now." Nessarose waited until the maid had left and closed the door behind her before addressing her sisters. "Well, I'm _very _surprised that you two have the nerve to show your faces in here after that little display earlier! You've done some horribly embarrassing things to me in my life, but never like that, in front of all those people we don't even know! In front of Madame Morrible herself, who is only the most respected Headmistress in all of Oz! And don't think I'm going to forgive you just because something good came from it and Madame Morrible thinks it's a talent. I _know_ you two far better than she does, and I _know_ you'll never do anything good with this supposed 'gift' of yours because you're too wrapped up in yourselves to care about your own younger sister and father, let alone anyone else in Oz!"

Elphaba winced as their younger sister's last words struck a nerve. "Now, Nessa, that's hardly fair..." she began, trying her best to keep her tone even and non-accusatory.

"Fair?" Nessa shrieked the word, her voice effortlessly climbing to a painful volume before lowering ominously to continue speaking. "Was it fair all of those times the two of you pretended to care about me when you really couldn't wait for me to go away? Was it fair that you leapt at the chance to get away from me by taking Madame Morrible's offer of a room that I couldn't get to?"

"Well, you hardly tried to stop us!" protested Liana tearfully.

"Well, obviously _I_couldn't say anything so disrespectful to Madame Morrible! And I'm not finished yet, Liana Thropp, so you just be quiet and listen to _me_ for a change! Is it fair that you embarrassed me in front of the whole school? It's bad enough that they would find out you were my sisters, but who's going to want to be my friend now? If only you two had done something selfless for once in your lives and told Father you didn't want to come to school! But no, you stood back and let him decide to send Elphaba. For all I know, you actually _encouraged _Grandmother to bully Father into sending Liana here as well – even though I certainly don't need either one of you, let alone _both_, and tried to tell Father so – just so you could make my life doubly miserable!"

"Listen, Nessa, we didn't mean to upset you," offered Elphaba half-desperately in a last-ditch effort to restore some semblance of peace. "We're sorry. We should have thought about how it would affect you."

"Of course we didn't mean to do this," agreed Liana emphatically. Feeling as desperate as Elphaba had sounded, she decided it was time for some… creative exaggeration. She knelt down next to Nessa and put her hand on her sister's arm. "If we had thought for a moment that you _didn't_ want us to come here with you, of course we would have talked to Father; we would have refused to come. Nessa, we _do_ love you – surely you can see that? Do you think we really wanted to come to a strange place with all of these people we don't know? We're not like you. We don't fit in; people don't like us, and we don't expect them to. But you deserve to have friends and be loved by all of these people _without_ your chances being interfered with by them judging you for your relatives." Liana sighed softly and squeezed Nessa's hand gently before finishing, "If you truly want us to leave, Nessie, we'll go to Madame Morrible and have her send a message to Father this very moment telling him just that."

"Oh, Liana, do get up!" commanded Nessa in a softer and more forgiving tone. "I can see that you're both sorry, and I know that you were looking forward to Shiz even with all the people. It was very good of you to make that offer, but I can see that you understand my position now, so we won't speak any more about it… as long as you both _promise_ me that you will do your absolute best to avoid causing this kind of embarrassing commotion again."

Following her twin's lead, Elphaba took Nessa's free hand in hers. "Of course we promise, Nessa. We'll try our very hardest not to do anything else to embarrass you." Giving the wheelchair-bound girl a tentative smile, she asked, "So you forgive us?"

"Oh, of course I do," said Nessa with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I have every other time, haven't I? Now stop mauling me around and let's get to orientation so you don't end up breaking your promise to me ten minutes after making it, shall we?"

"Of course, Nessa," replied Liana, smiling at her younger sister despite the persistent urge to slap her instead. "We certainly don't want to make a scene by being the last ones to get there."

"We'll make enough of a scene as it is, the three of us," agreed Elphaba, fighting down the same desire that was doggedly trying to get the better of her twin.

And with that, the three Thropp sisters set off for the scheduled orientation meeting.

As it turned out, none of the Thropp girls had any reason to worry about drawing unwanted attention to themselves. Madame Morrible had not yet arrived, and the rest of the students were clustered around Miss Galinda Upland, who was busy telling everyone how wonderful she was.

Elphaba gave a quiet, most unladylike snort when she saw the crowd of admirers surrounding the blonde. "It would seem as though she's beaten us to the punch with regards to getting people to notice her," she commented dryly.

"I think it's just a bit vulgar," remarked Nessa with a ladylike sniff. "Just because one has a position in society does not give one the right to brag about it."

"Most definitely not," Elphaba nodded.

"Does Miss Nessarose disapprove, then?" teased Liana affectionately; she couldn't help being amused by Nessa at times.

"Of course I disapprove. People might start to think that all noblewomen behave in such a fashion."

"They probably _do_ in Gillikin," replied Liana. "Remember how Grandmother Thropp is always writing to you of the latest misdeeds of the 'giddy young girls' who are to inherit positions of rank up there?"

Elphaba smirked as she recalled some of the stories Nessa had related to them from their grandmother's letters. "Yes, if Grandmother Thropp's stories are to be believed, this sort of behavior is par for the course where Miss Galinda is from."

"I honestly thought Grandmother may have exaggerated just a little until today," admitted Nessa. "Please excuse me; I'm going to move myself a little closer to the front of this…mob so I will be able to hear Madame Morrible when she gets here."

"We'll come and find you when we're done, then, shall we?" suggested Liana. "Or would you like us to help you around when Madame Morrible has finished explaining things – or whatever it is one does when conducting an orientation."

"I am quite capable of following a tour of the ground floor classrooms on my own, thank you," replied Nessa icily. "And you know Father said you two weren't to lift me around anyway."

"Of course. Sorry, Nessa."

"You may escort me back to my room when the orientation is finished, unless we are to have our evening meal straight afterwards, in which case I suppose you can sit with me for tonight."

"Really? That's very good of you to offer, Nessa." Elphaba knew that only Liana would catch the note of bitter sarcasm in her tone.

"I don't want you making a habit of it, but Father told me that he told you that he expects you to keep me company for the first few days until I find some friends of my own age, and I wouldn't want to be the cause of you breaking _another_ promise to Father."

Liana flinched at that. She hadn't realized that their father had told Nessa that he made them promise to behave themselves at Shiz. But then, he did tell Nessa lot of things that he didn't tell the twins.

Elphaba winced as well, and couldn't quite keep her eyes from narrowing slightly as she said, "Again, how very kind of you." Her hands clenched themselves into fists at her sides with the effort to maintain control of her temper.

Liana linked arms with Elphaba, then pried her sister's fingers open and held her hand firmly in her own. "She makes me _very_ angry too, my sweet," she murmured as Nessarose wheeled herself away. "But if you keep doing that, you'll make your palms bleed."

"As if she'd care," Elphaba frowned, shooting a hateful look at their sister's retreating back as she gripped her twin's hand tightly. "She'd probably say I deserve it for thinking badly of her."

"_She_ wouldn't care, but _I_ do," replied Liana, hugging her sister – briefly, so as not to attract too much attention by moving around excessively. "Besides," she added, completely straight faced, "I hear that blood is an absolute _nightmare_ to get out of cream-colored carpet, and we're nearly ankle deep in the stuff."

Elphaba stifled a laugh at her sister's remark and hugged her back. "Now _that_ would be an unfortunate event indeed."

The reply that was about to leave Liana's mouth was cut short as Madame Morrible arrived to begin the orientation. "Good afternoon, young ladies and gentlemen! I am simply thrillified to see you all again, and I hope you have settled in well. I will not keep you for long, just long enough to go over a few rules that will make everyone's university experience more enjoyable."

Madame Morrible's definition of 'not very long' apparently differed greatly from that of the student body. Most of them looked thoroughly bored by the time she finished talking about schedules, curfews, excursions outside the school, compulsory attendance to certain classes, and all of the other rules and guidelines of Shiz University. Next, the class schedules were handed out by various staff members. And then, just when the students thought it was all over, Madame Morrible announced that she would be taking them on a tour of the school.

The tour lasted the rest of the afternoon and finished near the dining room, where Madame Morrible dismissed the students to their evening meal. As Elphaba and Liana started to leave, they were stopped in their tracks when the headmistress called after them, "Oh, Miss Liana! Miss Elphaba! Would you wait just a clock tick? I'd like to speak with you regarding my sorcery class."

"Of course, Madame Morrible," replied Liana politely. "We should have realized that we would need to find out the arrangements."

Elphaba took out the timetable she had been given and looked it over. "Well, it looks like I'm free after history class," she noted. "What about you, Liana?"

"That's what's written on mine as well," agreed Liana. "Would that be suitable, Madame Morrible?"

"Quite suitable," confirmed the headmistress, bestowing them both with a smile that, for some unknown reason, made the twins shiver slightly. "Well, then, after your history class it is. Come to my office the first day, and we will find ourselves a suitable classroom." And with that, she nodded dismissively at them and swept off to her next task.

"I _suppose_ you think you're _so_ special just because Madame Morrible let you into her Sorcery class," remarked Galinda when the headmistress was gone, tossing her hair and sneering at the twins.

"If you keep pulling that face," remarked Liana, covering her surprise at the blonde girl's presence by pulling an exaggerated version of the face at Galinda, "you'll have frown lines by the time you're twenty-five."

Elphaba smirked. "Goodness knows we wouldn't want that. However would she impress people then? Her charming personality?"

"Her astonishing intelligence?" suggested Liana with an identical smirk.

"Well, at least one can coverup frown lines," retorted Galinda, staring very obviously at the twins' green faces.

"Too bad there's not something you can use to cover up your lack of a brain," Elphaba shot back, provoked by the pointed comment about the color of her and Liana's skin.

"She talks so much that no one can tell that she doesn't have a brain; one might consider _that_ coverage," suggested Liana, directing a stare back at the short blonde girl. "Was there a reason you were following us, other than to impress upon us your opinion of our complete unsuitability to learn sorcery? At least, that's what you _seemed_ to be saying, but the Gillikinese are quite famous for not saying what they really mean." Liana waited impatiently for a moment or two while Galinda stared back at her, apparently trying to work her way through the green girl's sentence, and then finally clarified, "The blonde version is, what do you _want_?"

Elphaba raised an eyebrow, silently echoing her sister's question.

"If you _must_ know," answered Galinda, in a tone that strongly suggested that she found them at least as detestable as they found her, "I just wanted to get a closer look at you two… _people_… so I would know how long it's going to take Madame Morrible to realize that there is no point in teaching Sorcery to such unsuitable…persons."

"Probably about as long as it will take her to realize that there _is_ a point to teaching Sorcery to someone as _blonde_ as you," returned Elphaba, turning Galinda's words back on her. "In other words, _never_."

"Why, you wretched…you're both…you're _witches_! That's what you are!" exclaimed Galinda in the tone of someone offering a great insult. Then she stormed off into the nearby building.

"I don't understand," said Liana in quiet confusion. "We _are_ witches, so why in Oz did she say it like she was calling us harlots?"

"I have no idea," Elphaba replied with a shake of her head. Then she cast a glance in the direction in which the blonde had disappeared, and the corners of her mouth turned upwards. "If she had the slightest intelligence to speak of, she'd be able to come up with an insult that was at least halfway original."

"I know. It was really almost amusing the way she paused so unsubtly before saying 'people' and 'persons.' Since I doubt she's going to exert herself to think of clever insults, we're probably going to be hearing a lot of variations of the theme of vegetables from her," replied Liana with a sigh before continuing, "Which, given her apparent popularity already, probablymeans that by antagonizing her back, we've given her a reason to make all of those people dislike us. What a simply _wonderful_ way to start a new chapter in our lives. Still, I don't suppose we were expecting much more, and me getting melancholy about it won't change anything."

Elphaba laid a hand on her older sister's shoulder. "Just remember - whatever happens, Li, we've always got each other."

"Just like we promised," agreed Liana with a gentle smile. "Now, we'd better get to the dining room, or we'll be late and Nessa will feel obliged to raise her voice at us again."

Elphaba made a face. "I can do without another lecture from her today, thank you. Let's go."

"Well," said Liana, flopping down ungracefully on one of the beds in the twins' suite, "that was definitely one of the most _uncomfortable_ meals I've ever had! I swear I don't even remember what I ate!"

Elphaba settled herself on the unoccupied bed with a similarly ungraceful movement. "I suppose we should be glad that Nessa's already found some friends. At least now she won't be bothering us _constantly_."

"The fact that we're on the fifth floor helps there as well," joked Liana. "I don't know if I'll be able to sleep without being down the hall from Nessa and listening out for her."

"Neither do I," agreed Elphaba. "It'll be rather strange not to be worrying about her every moment."

"Do you think we'll be able to _stop_ worrying? But then, if we listened to her, she doesn't think we do…worry, that is," said Liana, referring to the lecture they'd received earlier.

"No, we probably won't," Elphaba predicted, and then frowned and changed the subject. "I still can't believe what she said to us earlier." She paused and looked at her twin anxiously. "Do you think any of it's true, Li?"

"My first instinct is to protest and say no, of course it isn't true, and I think my instincts are right!" Liana rolled over so that she was facing her sister's bed. "Think about it logically, Fabala. When have we _ever_ been offered the chance to care about anyone? Frex has certainly never wanted anything to do with us, except to make sure we understand exactly how his 'precious little girl' is to be taken care of. And Nessarose… well, you know what she's like. She's hardly qualified to judge our feelings when she takes us for granted the way she does. I _know_ that we owe her a lot because of… everything… but if there's one thing we shouldn't feel guilty about, it's her being jealous of our closeness!"

Elphaba smiled slightly. "You're right. I mean, even _we_ deserve _that_ much, don't we?"

Liana nodded reassuringly in reply. "And perhaps, once we've learned enough sorcery, we might even be able to help Nessa be…the way she should have been. Maybe then she could forgive us."

"And maybe Father could, too," Elphaba added wistfully.

"From him, I would be quite satisfied with _tolerance_," declared Liana acerbically. Then she ruined the effect by yawning loudly and laughing a little. "Apparently my emotional state is of little relevance to my physical state, because the rest of me believes I should be satisfied with as good a night's sleep as I can get!"

Elphaba laughed, and then was forced to stifle a yawn of her own. "Sleep is probably a good idea," she agreed.

The twins quickly got ready for bed, unable to contain their joy at having their own private bathroom. Then they lay back down, Elphaba leaned over and blew out the lamp they had lit, and both were fast asleep in minutes.


End file.
